Gina Carano being fired by Disney was just a matter of time. Barely a week went by without her saying something stupid on social media, ranging from casual transphobia to promoting anti-masking in the middle of a pandemic and spreading conspiracy theories about voter fraud. It all came to a head earlier this week, though, when Carano shared a ridiculous post arguing that being a Republican today is like being Jewish during the Holocaust.
The hammer came down hard and fast, as the actress has been fired from The Mandalorian, will now not appear in Rangers of the New Republic and has been dropped by her talent agency. Heck, Hasbro even cancelled their Cara Dune action figure. It’s worth pointing out here that Disney doesn’t necessarily care if you’re a Republican or hold conservative political positions, but they really hate controversy and an individual causing the company reputational damage.
As such, it’s not surprising that THR is now reporting that their source “with knowledge of Lucasfilm’s thinking” said the following:
“They have been looking for a reason to fire her for two months, and today was the final straw.”
Their sources also say that the studio was preparing to unveil Carano as the star of her own Disney+ show during December’s Investor Day presentation, which confirmed the existence of a bunch of exciting upcoming Star Wars projects. But while several series were announced, Carano was nowhere to be seen. By this point, there must have been high-level meetings trying to work out what to do with her, most likely including informing her that she was on very thin ice with the company.
As mentioned above, the actress was also set to appear in the Rangers of the New Republic spinoff and right now, it remains to be seen whether the Mouse House will still move ahead with that or quietly cancel it and refocus their attention on the rest of their Star Wars projects. I suspect the latter, though, as The Mandalorian‘s second season was clearly setting up a story in which Cara Dune rejoins the New Republic to bring justice to the lawless frontiers of space. If she was the core of the show, what do they have left?
It’s a shame that Dune will likely disappear, as I quite liked her. But on the other hand, Gina Carano definitely had this coming and I’m not at all surprised that Disney booted her out of a galaxy far, far away.